EXERCISES  AT  THE  DEDICATION 
OF  THE  FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN 
im  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES  ^ 
CHICAGO,  SEPTEMBER  9,  1913 


DEDICATION  OF 

THE  FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN  OF 

THE  GREAT  LAKES 

CHICAGO 
SEPTEMBER  9, 1913 

BENJAMIN  F.  FERGUSON,  DONOR 
LORADO  TAFT,  SCULPTOR 


TRUSTEES  OF  THE  B.  F.  FERGUSON 
FUND,   1913-14 

Being  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Art 
Institute  of  Chicago 


EDWARD   E.  AYER 
ADOLPHUS  C.  BARTLETT 
JOHN  C.  BLACK 
CHAUNCEY  J.  BLAIR 
EDWARD  B.  BUTLER 
CLYDE   M.  CARR 
WALLACE  L.  DE  WOLF 
HENRY   H.  GETTY 
JOHN  J.  GLESSNER 
WILLIAM   O.  GOODMAN 


FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS 
CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON 
BRYAN   LATHROP 
FRANK  G.  LOGAN 
R.  HALL   McCORMICK 
JOHN  J.  MITCHELL 
SAMUEL   M.  NICKERSON 
HONORE   PALMER 
MARTIN  A.  RYERSON 
HOWARD  SHAW 


ALBERT  A.  SPRAGUE 

Ex-Officio 

CARTER   H.  HARRISON 

Mayor 
JOHN   E.  TRAEGER, 

Comptroller 

JOHN  BARTON  PAYNE, 

President  South  Park  Commissioners 

JOSEPH   DONNERSBERGER, 

Auditor  South  Park  Commissioners 


OFFICERS 

CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON President 

MARTIN  A.  RYERSON  \  v-     Presidenta 

FRANK  G.  LOGAN         / 

ERNEST  A.  HAMILL Treasurer 

WILLIAM   M.  R.  FRENCH Director 

WILLIAM  A.  ANGELL Auditor 

NEWTON  H.  CARPENTER Secretary 

WILLIAM   F.  TUTTLE Assistant  Secretary 


INTRODUCTORY 


INTRODUCTORY 

Benjamin  Franklin  Ferguson,  an  old  and 
respected  business  man  of  Chicago,  died 
April  10, 1905.  By  Ms  will,  after  providing 
certain  small  bequests  to  relatives,  lie  com- 
mitted to  the  Northern  Trust  Company,  a 
corporation  existing  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  all  his  estate,  real,  per- 
sonal, and  mixed,  in  trust,  for  certain  uses 
and  purposes  described  as  follows : 

The  Trustee  is  to  reduce  all  of  the  estate 
(except  a  certain  piece  of  real  estate  be- 
queathed to  a  relative)  to  first-class  mort- 
gages and  bonds.  If  the  estate  falls  below 
one  million  dollars,  the  income  is  to  be  ac- 
cumulated to  that  amount;  provided  that 
certain  annuities  to  relatives  and  cemetery 
associations  (amounting  to  seven  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars  annually)  shall  in  any 
case  be  regularly  paid.  Four  other  annuities 
of  one  thousand  dollars  each  to  publi c  institu- 
tions, one  of  them  the  Art  Institute,  are  pro- 
vided, when  the  estate  reaches  one  million 
dollars. 

The  Trustee,  after  accumulating  the  es- 
tate to  one  million  dollars  and  setting  aside 

7 


8  Introduction 

the  above  annuities  and  the  Trustee's  com- 
pensation not  exceeding  one-half  of  one  per 
cent,  shall  pay  the  entire  net  income  annu- 
ally or  oftener  "to  the  Art  Institute  of 
Chicago,  to  be  known  as  the  B.  F.  Ferguson 
Fund,  and  entirely  and  exclusively  expended 
by  it  under  the  direction  of  its  Board  of 
Trustees  in  the  erection  and  maintenance 
of  enduring  statuary  and  monuments,  in  the 
whole  or  in  part  of  stone,  granite  or  bronze, 
in  the  parks,  along  the  boulevards  or  in  other 
public  places,  within  the  city  of  Chicago, 
Illinois,  commemorating  worthy  men  or 
women  of  America  or  important  events  of 
American  history.  The  plans  or  designs  for 
such  statuary  or  monuments  and  the  loca- 
tion of  the  same  shall  be  determined  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  such  Institute. " 

THE  B.  F.  FERGUSON  FUND 

The  Trustees  of  the  Art  Institute  of  Chi- 
cago are  Trustees  of  the  income  of  the  Fer- 
guson sculpture  fund.  The  only  completed 
monument  thus  far  erected  is  the  Ferguson 
Fountain  of  the  Great  Lakes,  south  of  the 
Art  Institute. 

A  monument  commemorative  of  the  ad- 
mission of  Illinois  to  the  Union  in  1818,  by 


Introduction  9 

Henry  Bacon,  architect,  to  be  erected  on  the 
West  Side,  is  under  consideration. 

Mr.  Lorado  Taft  has  been  commissioned 
to  prepare  full-size  models  of  his  proposed 
Fountain  of  Time  to  be  erected  upon  the  Mid- 
way. Mr.  Taft  has  been  authorized  at  a  fixed 
price  to  model  the  fountain  in  plaster,  ready 
to  be  cut  in  marble,  the  preparatory  models 
to  be  completed  within  five  years.  There 
is  an  accumulation  of  the  fund  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  Trustees,  more  than  sufficient 
for  all  obligations  incurred.  The  Trustees, 
therefore,  are  not  precluded  from  under- 
taking other  works  during  the  coming  years. 

The  B.  F.  Ferguson  Fund  at  present 
exceeds  a  million  dollars.  It  is  subject  to 
certain  charges  for  annuities,  taxes,  and  cost 
of  administration,  and  the  annual  income  ap- 
plicable to  sculpture  is  somewhat  less  than 
thirty  thousand  dollars. 


BIOGRAPHICAL 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

Benjamin  Franklin  Ferguson  was  born  at 
Columbia,  Pa.,  in  1839,  and  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  there,  finishing  with  a 
course  in  the  Millersville  Normal  School. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  went  into  his 
father's  lumber  yard  at  Columbia,  and  con- 
tinued there  three  years,  when  he  went  to 
New  York,  and  was  engaged  for  a  time  in 
an  auctioneering  business  with  Robinson, 
Scott  &  Co.  In  1861  he  joined  the  Union 
Army,  and  was  stationed  at  Alexandria, 
Va.,  in  charge  of  the  hay  department  of  that 
section.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  was  an  en- 
listed soldier ;  he  may  have  been  connected 
with  the  Quartermaster's  department.  In 
1865  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  again  engaged 
in  the  lumber  business,  in  the  employ  of  the 
late  Jesse  Spalding.  Later  he  became  the 
Chicago  manager  of  R.  Schulenberg  of  St. 
Louis  in  a  similar  business.  In  1867  he 
went  into  business  for  himself,  and  was  con- 
nected successively  with  the  firms  of  E. 
Little  &  Co.,  Ferguson  &  Auten,  and  the 
South  Branch  Lumber  Company.  In  this 
last  company  Mr.  Ferguson  was  associated 

IS 


14  Biographical 

with  Jacob  and  Francis  Beidler,  and  the 
business,  with  large  yards  at  Chicago  and  at 
Tonawanda,  N.  Y.,  became  very  flourishing 
and  extensive.  Mr.  Ferguson  extended  his 
activities  to  the  southern  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  was  President  of  the  Santee  Eiver 
Cypress  Lumber  Company  in  South  Caro- 
lina. He  was  a  plain  business  man,  self- 
reliant  and  especially  distinguished  for  his 
skill  in  buying. 

In  1866  he  was  married  to  Myra  Finney 
of  Cedar  River,  Michigan,  who  died  about 
1898.  There  were  no  children  of  the  mar- 
riage. 

During  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  of  his 
life,  from  about  1893,  Mr.  Ferguson  partly 
withdrew  himself  from  the  cares  of  business, 
and  sought  recreation  in  travel  in  the  United 
States  and  abroad.  He  had  a  cottage  at 
Buzzard's  Bay,  Mass.,  near  Wareham,  and 
it  is  said  that  he  spent  there  his  happiest 
days,  cruising  on  the  bay,  reading  in  his 
library,  or  walking  with  his  dogs.  He  was 
a  contributor  in  a  quiet  way  to  the  charities 
of  the  city,  and  he  was  a  subscriber  to  the 
statue  of  Washington,  which  stands  at  the 
Grand  Boulevard  entrance  to  Washington 
Park.  He  died  in  Chicago,  April  10,  1905. 


Biographical  15 

It  is  said  that  when  traveling  in  Europe 
Mr.  Ferguson  was  much  impressed  with  the 
decoration  of  foreign  cities  with  statues  and 
monuments,  and  upon  his  return  to  Chicago 
was  much  impressed  with  the  destitution  of 
similar  adornments  here. 


•  •  •  .ti  '.-•• .-    I jj   ~  'r~  o '  -  rrr j r 


THE  FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES 


EXERCISES  OF  DEDICATION  OF  THE 

FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN  OF  THE 

GREAT  LAKES 

The  dedication  of  the  Ferguson  Fountain 
took  place  on  Tuesday,  September  9,  1913, 
at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  day  was 
beautiful.  A  thousand  chairs  were  set  in 
the  open  air  south  of  the  Art  Institute 
facing  the  fountain,  and  a  low  platform 
was  provided  for  the  speakers.  An  audi- 
ence made  up  of  Trustees  and  Members  of 
the  Art  Institute,  friends  of  Mr.  Ferguson 
and  of  the  sculptor,  and  other  interested 
spectators,  overflowed  the  seats,  and  pre- 
sented, with  the  moving  throngs  on  Michi- 
gan Avenue  and  the  crowded  windows  of  the 
neighboring  buildings,  a  lively  and  inspir- 
ing spectacle.  The  exercises  were  opened  by 
prayer  by  Dr.  F.  W.  Gunsaulus,  after  which 
the  programme  was  as  follows : 

Music  by  the  Chicago  Band 

William  Weil,  Conductor 

Coronation  March  from  "The  Prophet" 
Meyerbeer 

Overture— "Triumph" Suppe 

19 


20  Exercises  of  Dedication 

ADDRESS  BY  THE  SCULPTOR,  MR.  LORADO  TAFT 
Music 

Fanfare  from  "Parsival" Wagner 

THE  PRESENTATION  OP  THE  FOUNTAIN 

Mr.  Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  President  of 

the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Art  Institute 

of  Chicago 
THE  ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE  FOUNTAIN 

Mr.  John  Barton  Payne,  President  of  the 

Board  of  South  Park  Commissioners 
INTRODUCTION  OF  WATER  TO  THE  FOUNTAIN 
Music 

Hallelujah  Chorus  from  "The  Messiah " 
Handel 

"The  Star  Spangled  Banner. " 

The  full  recognition  of  the  sculptor  was  a 
pleasant  and  rather  unusual  feature  of  the 
occasion.  In  his  address  Mr.  Taf  t  said  that 
the  personification  of  the  Great  Lakes  in 
sculpture  was  suggested  by  D.  H.  Burnham, 
the  architect.  Mr.  Hutchinson  called  atten- 
tion to  the  appropriateness  of  this  subject  as 
a  memorial  of  Mr.  Ferguson,  since  the  great 
lakes  were  the  scene  of  much  of  his  busi- 
ness activity.  Judge  Payne  pointed  out  the 
necessity  of  material  prosperity  among  citi- 
zens like  Mr.  Ferguson  as  the  basis  of  great 


Exercises  of  Dedication  21 

works  of  art.  At  the  pressure  of  a  button 
by  the  little  daughter  of  the  sculptor,  the 
water  flowed  in  the  fountain,  pouring  from 
shell  to  shell  held  by  the  hands  of  the  young 
female  draped  figures  representing  the  lakes. 
On  the  great  granite  block  back  of  the  group 
is  a  bas-relief  portrait  of  Mr.  Ferguson  in 
bronze  between  two  bronze  panels  of  laurel 
branches,  with  the  following  inscription : 

"Benjamin  Franklin  Ferguson  be- 
queathed in  trust  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Art 
Institute  of  Chicago  a  fund  of  one  million 
dollars  to  be  known  as  the  B.  F.  Ferguson 
Monument  Fund.  The  income  derived  from 
the  fund  must  be  used  for  the  erection  and 
maintenance  of  enduring  statuary  and  monu- 
ments in  the  parks,  along  the  boulevards,  or 
in  other  public  places  within  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago commemorating  worthy  men  or  women 
of  America  or  important  events  of  her  his- 
tory. Anno  Domini  MCMXIII." 


THE  FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

Central  Group 


ADDRESS  OF  LORADO  TAFT 

SCULPTOR  OF  THE 
FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN 


ADDRESS   OP 

LORADO  TAFT 

Mr.  Taf t  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  I 
have  been  asked  to  say  a  few  words  on  the 
origin  of  this  fountain,  but  before  doing  so 
I  wish  to  acknowledge  here  my  indebted- 
ness not  only  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Fer- 
guson fund,  who  have  given  me  my  oppor- 
tunity, but  to  my  long-time  friend  and  co- 
laborer,  Jules  Berchem,  the  founder,  who 
makes  as  good  bronze  castings  right  here  in 
Chicago  as  you  can  find  in  Paris  or  Munich ; 
to  the  architects,  Shepley,  Rutan  &  Coolidge, 
who  have  aided  me  so  much,  and  especially 
their  representative,  Mr.  Puckey,  indefatiga- 
ble and  omniscent  in  detail;  and  finally, 
but  never  to  be  forgotten,  my  good  friends 
of  the  Municipal  Art  League  who  kept  me 
encouraged  through  so  many  wistful  years, 
assuring  me  that  Chicago  should  have  the 
Fountain  of  the  Great  Lakes,  if  they  had  to 
beg  the  money  on  the  street  corners. 

It  happened  in  this  way:  Almost  twenty 
years  ago— I  remember  it  was  soon  after 
the  World's  Fair— I  was  on  my  way,  one 

25 


26  Address  —  Lorado  Taft 

evening,  to  Evanston,  and  chanced  to  sit 
beside  Mr.  Burnham.  We  were  talking  of 
the  triumphs  of  that  most  beautiful  of  all 
expositions,  and  Mr.  Burnham  criticised 
gently  the  lack  of  initiative  of  our  sculptors, 
remarking  that  he  was  sorry  that  none  of 
us  had  thought  to  make  a  fountain  personi- 
fying the  Great  Lakes.  I  recognized  at  once 
the  beauty  of  the  suggestion  and  felt  appro- 
priately ashamed  that  none  of  us  should 
have  thought  of  it.  Later  I  made  the  sketch 
which  has  developed  in  the  course  of  years 
into  the  group  before  you. 

There  was  a  long  dreary  period  after  the 
World's  Fair,  a  hopeless  eternity  of  depres- 
sion and  longing  illumined  only  now  and 
then  by  the  ghoulish  hope  of  a  death-mask 
of  a  prominent  citizen  and  a  possible  bust. 
It  came  over  me  gradually  that  the  coy 
attitude  of  our  artists,  like  a  girl  waiting  to 
be  proposed  to,  was  not  a  success.  That 
while  our  public  needed  sculpture,  it  did  not 
know  it  and  never  would  guess  it  unless 
someone  showed  it  what  it  wanted !  It  was 
high  time  to  visualize  some  of  those  pent-up 
emotions.  But  sculpture  is  an  expensive 
craft,  like  architecture  in  that  respect, 
and  its  most  beautiful  dreams  are  impotent 


Address  —  Lorado  Tafl  27 

unless  you  can  externalize  them.  By  good 
fortune  I  chanced  to  have  at  the  same  mo- 
ment here  in  the  Art  Institute  a  large  class 
of  young  people  eager  for  something  to  do. 
We  began  to  devise  subjects  for  their  united 
efforts.  One  year  we  did  the  notorious 
Nymph  Fountain,  which  "  astonished  the 
world"  upon  this  very  spot.  The  next  year, 
I  think  it  was,  five  of  my  young  sculptors 
made  from  a  sketch  of  mine  the  first  model 
of  the  ' '  Great  Lakes. ' '  They  were  less  than 
life  size,  they  were  not  very  good  and  being 
made  separately  they  did  not  fit  together 
very  well.  But  the  people  liked  the  idea  and  I 
was  encouraged  to  do  them  again.  I  did  so, 
this  time  doing  the  work  entirely  myself, 
though  at  intervals  between  lecture  trips, 
and  writing,  and  teaching,  and  "  death- 
masquerading.  "  It  was  a  rather  desperate 
time,  but  there  was  a  leit  motif  of  hope  run- 
ning through  those  days  and  months.  When 
at  last  the  group  was  finished  and  exhibited, 
it  found  friends,  and  some  never  ceased  to 
work  for  it  until  the  order  was  assured. 
This  first  model  was  made  in  my  little  studio 
in  the  Fine  Arts  Building,  a  space  but  little 
wider  than  the  group,  so  that  I  never  saw 
the  ends  of  the  composition  from  any  dis- 


28  Address  —  Lorado  Tafl 

tance.  Upon  receiving  the  definite  order 
from  the  Ferguson  Committee  I  made  the 
group  all  over  again,  enlarging  the  figures 
from  seven  and  one-half  feet  to  ten  feet. 

The  motif  of  the  group  is  not  profound. 
I  have  sometimes  wondered  if  it  were  not 
too  obvious.  "Lake  Superior"  on  high  and 
"Lake  Michigan"  at  the  side  both  empty 
into  the  basin  of  "Lake  Huron,"  who  sends 
the  waters  on  to  "Lake  Erie"  whence  "Lake 
Ontario"  receives  them.  As  they  escape 
from  her  basin  and  hasten  into  the  unknown, 
she  reaches  wistfully  after  them  as  though 
questioning  whether  she  has  been  neglectful 
of  her  charge.  The  exigencies  of  placing 
have  made  her  reach  toward  Saint  Louis  in- 
stead of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  but  you  are 
requested  to  overlook  this  solecism. 

Some  have  thought  that  my  personifica- 
tions of  the  Lakes  are,  or  should  be  Indians. 
Naturally  the  idea  suggested  itself  to  me, 
but  was  never  seriously  entertained,  since 
the  Indian  type  of  womanhood  is  hardly  our 
ideal,  while  a  classic  Diana  in  moccasins  and 
feathers,  a  prettified,  characterless  Indian, 
is  no  longer  acceptable  in  art.  Back  of  this 
however,  is  the  feeling  that  these  creatures 
should  be  of  no  time  nor  race.  They  are 


Address  —  Lorado  Tafl  29 

the  Danaides  of  the  new  world  whose  im- 
memorial task  was  solaced  for  a  moment  by 
the  canoes  and  camp  fires  of  the  red-skins. 

But  we  are  gathered  here  for  another  pur- 
pose. We  come  to  do  honor  to  a  good  man, 
a  man  of  imagination  and  vision.  I  never 
met  Mr.  Ferguson,  but  I  wish  that  I  had.  I 
remember  what  a  thrill  I  felt  when  the  sig- 
nificance of  his  unprecedented  benefaction 
first  dawned  upon  me.  I  felt  that  I  should 
have  known  Trim.  I  wanted  to  thank  him 
personally  in  the  name  of  all  Chicago,  the 
Chicago  of  to-day  and  of  the  many  to- 
morrows. And  I  would  have  thanked  him 
with  still  greater  emotion  in  the  name  of  Chi- 
cago 's  new  school  of  sculptors,  which  this 
bequest  makes  possible,  the  group  of  men 
and  women  who  will  bring  a  fair  fame  to  our 
city  as  the  direct  result  of  this  gift. 

I  mentioned  this  desire  to  a  friend,  who 
remarked  dryly  that  perhaps  it  was  well  that 
I  had  not  met  Mr.  Ferguson :  if  he  had  heard 
my  wild  talk  he  might  have  changed  his  will 
and  left  everything  to  an  asylum  or  library. 
But  whether  or  no  he  foresaw  the  workers 
as  well  as  the  work;  whether  the  sculptors 
and  architects  entered  into  his  consciousness, 
this  remains  to  me  the  highest  cause  of  en- 


30  Address  —  Lorado  Taft 

thusiasm  and  gratitude,  that  artists  are 
growing  up  in  our  midst  who  shall  win  for 
our  city  recognition  in  the  world  of  beauty, 
who  shall  crown  our  commercial  life  as  was 
crowned  the  commercial  lif e  of  Athens  and 
Florence  and  Venice. 

What  Chicago  lacks,  what  all  our  new 
American  cities  so  deplorably  lack  is  a  back- 
ground. Our  traditions  are  all  before  us. 
Our  homes,  our  streets,  our  lives  are  casual 
We  need  something  to  give  us  a  greater 
solidarity— to  put  a  soul  into  our  com- 
munity—to make  us  love  this  place  above 
all  others.  This  Art  alone  can  do.  Jane 
Addams  has  understood  it  when  she  wrote : 

"  .  After  all,  what  is  the  func- 

tion of  Art,  but  to  preserve  in  permanent 
and  beautiful  form  those  emotions  and 
solaces  which  cheer  life  and  make  it  kindlier, 
more  heroic  and  easier  to  comprehend; 
which  lift  the  mind  of  the  worker  from  the 
harshness  and  loneliness  of  his  task,  and  by 
connecting  him  with  what  has  gone  before, 
free  him  from  a  sense  of  the  isolation  and 
hardship?" 

Such  is  the  value  of  monuments ;  such  is 
the  potency  of  this  ancient,  awfully  perma- 
nent art  of  sculpture.  It  bears  its  message 
through  the  ages,  reaching  a  hand  in  either 


Address  —  Lorado  Toft  31 

direction,  binding  together  as  it  were  the 
generations  of  men.  On  mouldering  stone 
and  corroded  bronze  we  read  the  aspirations 
of  a  vanished  race.  In  the  same  materials 
we  send  our  greetings  to  myriads  of  souls 
unborn.  There  is  elation  in  the  thought.  It 
is  immortality. 

Gentlemen,  shall  I  confess  it?  I  have 
looked  upon  your  splendid  citizenship  with 
admiration,  sometimes  not  untouched  with 
envy.  I  have  been  jealous  of  your  privilege 
of  doing  splendid  things  for  our  Chicago. 
Do  you  wonder  then  that  it  is  with  deep  feel- 
ing that  I  thank  you  and  Mr.  Ferguson  for 
permitting  me  to  join  you  as  a  stockholder 
in  this  community,  a  contributor  in  some 
small  way  to  its  heritage  ? 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESENTATION  BY 

CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  TRUSTEES 

OF  THE  FERGUSON  FUND 


THE  ART  INSTITUTE  OF  CHICAGO 

Showing  the  Ferguson  Fountain 


ADDRESS   OF 

CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON 

Mr.  Hutchinson  spoke  as  follows : 

We  are  here  to  dedicate  the  Ferguson 
Fountain  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  to  pre- 
sent it  in  the  name  of  B.  F.  Ferguson  to  the 
citizens  of  Chicago.  It  is  an  important  event 
in  the  artistic  development  of  our  city.  It 
is  also  a  notable  event  in  our  civic  life,  for 
the  noble  example  set  by  Mr.  Ferguson  ranks 
with  the  generosity  of  his  benefaction.  We 
see  before  us  the  first  tangible  illustration  of 
the  wisdom  of  a  loyal  and  devoted  citizen. 

This  is  but  one  of  many  monuments  which 
will  in  time  be  erected  and  add  greatly  to  the 
beauty  of  our  city.  They  will  give  pleas- 
ure and  inspiration  to  thousands  of  our  fel- 
low citizens  by  recalling  to  memory  great 
Americans  and  events,  notable  in  the  history 
of  our  country.  Think  of  all  that  will  be  ac- 
complished in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years 
through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Ferguson.  It 
is  difficult  to  conceive  of  the  glory  of  it  all, 
made  possible  by  his  f  arsighted  benevolence. 

Mr.  Ferguson  came  to  Chicago  at  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War,  and  devoted  himself  to 

35 


36         Address  —  Charles  L.  Hutchinson 

business.  Its  pursuits  led  Mm  to  and  fro 
upon  the  Great  Lakes.  He  was  well  known 
in  all  their  lumber  ports,  and  where  he  was 
known  he  was  always  held  in  high  esteem. 
He  spent  many  years  of  his  life  in  traversing 
the  waters  of  Lake  Superior,  Lake  Michi- 
gan and  Lake  Huron.  It  is  therefore  highly 
appropriate  that  the  first  monument  to  be 
erected  from  the  proceeds  of  the  B.  F.  Fer- 
guson Monument  Fund,  should  be  this  Foun- 
tain of  the  Great  Lakes.  It  is  gratifying  to 
the  Trustees  of  The  Art  Institute  to  have  one 
of  Mr.  Ferguson's  intimate  friends  write 
that  "no  better  selection  could  have  been 
made  to  commemorate  the  activities  of  the 
donor,  in  his  chosen  business,  the  lumber 
trade.  Fitting  it  is  that  this  field  of  his  oper- 
ation should  be  given  expression  in  so  unique 
a  manner. ' '  The  trustees  chosen  by  Mr.  Fer- 
guson, however,  claim  no  credit  for  fore- 
sight in  the  matter,  since  the  selection  of  the 
Fountain  was  one  of  those  happy  circum- 
stances or  unexpected  coincidences,  so  ap- 
propriate that  men  of  faith  sometimes  call 
them  special  providences. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  among  our 
citizens  a  great  artist,  Mr.  Lorado  Taf  t.  For 
several  years  he  worked  faithfully  to  give 


Address  —  Charles  L.  Hutchinson       37 

adequate  expression  to  one  of  Ms  noble  con- 
ceptions. The  result  of  his  thought  and 
labor  was  a  model  of  this  Fountain  of  the 
Great  Lakes.  It  was  exhibited  to  the  public 
just  at  the  time  when  the  Trustees  of  Mr. 
Ferguson  were  seeking  a  design  for  a  monu- 
ment to  be  erected  in  his  memory  and  was 
selected  by  them  without  hesitation.  The 
city  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  possessing 
an  artist  capable  of  creating  this  beautiful 
fountain,  and  at  the  same  time  a  citizen  so 
generous  and  of  such  great  vision  as  to  en- 
able the  artist  to  put  his  ideas  into  perma- 
nent form. 

During  his  life  among  us,  Mr.  Ferguson 
was  a  modest,  unassuming  citizen,  devoting 
most  of  his  time  to  his  business,  but,  as  with 
many  other  business  men,  his  thoughts  were 
not  all  given  to  affairs  of  commercial  life.  He 
was  a  dreamer  of  dreams.  He  had  visions 
of  a  City  Beautiful  and  a  strong  desire  to 
aid  in  the  upbuilding  of  such  a  city.  He  saw 
that  it  was  within  his  power  to  be  of  mate- 
rial service  in  the  building  of  such  a  city 
here  at  home,  and  he  resolved  to  act  and  to 
act  generously.  He  decided  to  devote  prac- 
tically his  entire  estate  to  the  purpose  in  his 
mind.  It  was  to  create  a  fund  of  at  least 


38       Address  —  Charles  L.  Hutchinson 

one  million  dollars,  the  proceeds  of  which 
should  forever  be  devoted  to  the  realization 
of  his  dream.  At  this  time  the  value  of  his 
estate  was  considerably  less  than  the  desired 
amount,  so  for  years  he  allowed  it  to  accu- 
mulate, that  in  the  end  the  sum  should  be 
adequate  to  do  the  great  work  he  had  in 
mind.  He  made  a  will.  This  will  provides 
that  "the  income  of  this  permanent  Trust 
Fund  of  not  less  than  one  million  dollars 
shall  annually  be  paid  to  the  Art  Institute 
of  Chicago,  to  be  known  as  the  B.  F.  Fer- 
guson Monument  Fund,  and  entirely  and 
exclusively  used  and  expended  by  it  under 
the  direction  of  its  Board  of  Trustees  in  the 
erection  and  maintenance  of  enduring  statu- 
ary and  monuments  in  the  whole  or  in  part 
of  stone,  granite  or  bronze,  in  the  parks, 
along  the  boulevards,  or  in  other  public 
places  within  the  City  of  Chicago,  Illinois, 
commemorating  worthy  men  or  women  of 
America,  or  important  events  of  American 
history.  The  plans  or  designs  for  such  statu- 
ary or  monuments  and  the  location  of  the 
same  shall  be  determined  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Art  Institute." 

You  may  read  this  provision  of  his  will 
upon  the  other  side  of  this  granite  back- 


Address  —  Charles  L.  Hutchinson       39 

ground  where  it  will  be  placed  in  letters  of 
bronze  beneath  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Fergu- 
son. Future  generations  will  read  this  sim- 
ple declaration  and  looking  about  the  city  to 
see  all  that  the  Trustees  of  Mr.  Ferguson 
have  been  able  to  accomplish  through  its 
simple  provision,  will  wonder  at  the  far- 
sighted  wisdom  of  this  man,  who  loved  his 
fellowmen  and  sought  to  be  of  service  to 
them— sought  not  only  to  minister  to  their 
esthetic  sense,  but  to  arouse  their  patriotism 
as  well. 

In  this  age  of  steam  and  electricity,  when 
the  affairs  of  the  world  seem  to  be  controlled 
by  corporations  and  run  by  machinery,  we 
are  apt  to  lose  sight  of  the  value  of  the  in- 
dividual. In  this  age  of  democracy  the  in- 
dividual is  .as  valuable  and  even  more  neces- 
sary than  ever.  Mr.  Ferguson  brings  this 
clearly  before  us  by  his  deliberate  and  care- 
fully considered  thought  as  expressed  so  sim- 
ply in  his  will.  The  Trustees  of  the  Art 
Institute  feel  honored  by  the  confidence 
placed  in  them  by  Mr.  Ferguson,  and  appre- 
ciate the  responsibility  of  so  great  a  trust. 
I  feel  sure  that  the  people  of  Chicago  will 
have  no  just  cause  for  complaint  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Trust  will  be  administered. 


40        Address  —  Charles  L.  Hutchinson 

At  present  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Trustees 
of  Mr.  Ferguson  not  to  devote  the  proceeds 
of  his  fund  to  trivial  works,  but  rather  to 
seek  to  erect  monuments  worthy  of  the  donor 
and  the  great  city  which  he  sought  to  benefit. 

It  is  proper  that  the  first  monument  to  be 
erected  from  the  proceeds  of  the  Ferguson 
fund  should  be  one  in  memory  of  the  donor. 

Judge  Payne— as  President  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Art  Institute  I  have  the  honor  of 
presenting  to  the  South  Park  Commis- 
sioners, this  monument,  the  first  to  be  erected 
from  the  B.  F.  Ferguson  Monument  Fund, 
and  to  be  known  as  the  Ferguson  Fountain  of 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  I  ask  all  present  to 
stand  as  I  pronounce  the  name  of  him  whom 
we  would  honor  to-day,— Benjamin  Frank- 
lin Ferguson. 


THE  FERGUSON  FOUNTAIN  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

Reliefs  on  reverse 


ADDRESS  OF  ACCEPTANCE  BY 
HONORABLE  JOHN  BARTON  PAYNE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE 

SOUTH  PARK  COMMISSIONERS 

OF  CHICAGO 


ADDRESS  OF 

HONORABLE  JOHN  BARTON  PAYNE 

Judge  Payne  spoke  as  follows : 

In  accepting  this  splendid  monument  for 
and  on  behalf  of  the  South  Park  Commis- 
sioners, I  speak  not  only  for  the  Commis- 
sioners but  for  the  people  of  the  City  of  Chi- 
cago. 

It  is  singularly  appropriate  that  the  first 
great  work,  the  result  of  the  splendid  be- 
quest of  B.  P.  Ferguson,  should  typify  the 
Great  Lakes. 

Bodies  of  water  have  always  been  the  sub- 
ject of  song  and  story.  Rome  celebrated  its 
Tiber,  Florence  its  Arno,  Paris  its  Seine, 
London  its  Thames. 

Well  may  Chicago  celebrate  our  great 
chain  of  lakes,  our  inland  seas,  Erie,  On- 
tario, Huron,  Michigan  and  Superior. 

How  wonderfully  these  names  lend  them- 
selves to  poetry,  song  and  story,  and  how  the 
rivers  fade  into  insignificance  when  com- 
pared with  these  Great  Lakes ! 

It  is  said  that  Chicago  lacks  a  background ; 
that  its  citizenship  is  affected  by  material- 
ism; that  we  have  not  devoted  ourselves  to 

43 


44          Address  —  John  Barton  Payne 

the  arts  and  to  the  humanities  as  we  might 
have  done.  People  who  make  these  reflec- 
tions forget  that  art  and  devotion  to  the 
humanities  for  their  own  sake  are  the  ripe 
fruits  of  civilization.  They  follow  that 
splendid  materialism  which  is  expressed  in 
the  life,  the  business,  and  the  commercial 
success  of  a  city  like  Chicago.  Chicago  is  not 
alone  in  this  respect.  Every  great  center 
where  art  now  flourishes,  contains  or  has 
passed  through  commercial  success.  It  is 
impossible  to  have  the  ripe  flower  of  civiliza- 
tion—art, poetry  and  song— without  means 
and  leisure:  leisure  to  think,  to  study,  to 
work,  and  means  to  render  this  possible.  In- 
deed, materialism  is  as  old  as  man.  And 
after  all  materialism  represents  those  things 
which  make  for  the  creature  comforts,  and 
is  objectionable  only  when  the  better  things 
of  life  are  smothered,  and  it  becomes  the 
end,  not  merely  the  means.  That  it  is  not 
peculiar  to  our  own  time  is  abundantly 
shown  by  history. 

More  than  thirteen  hundred  years  ago  Ed- 
win, the  Saxon  King  of  Northumbria,  con- 
vened a  great  council  to  determine  whether 
our  forefathers  should  adopt  the  Christian 
religion.  The  Chief  Priest  of  the  old  reli- 


Address  —  John  Barton  Payne         45 

gion  came  before  the  assembled  council  and 
made  a  speech,  in  which  among  other  things 
he  said: 

"I  have  found  the  old  gods  to  be  impost- 
ers,— of  this  I  am  satisfied.  Look  at  me.  I 
have  been  serving  them  all  my  life;  they 
have  done  nothing  for  me,  whereas  if  they 
had  been  really  powerful  they  could  not  have 
decently  done  less  in  return  for  all  I  have 
done  for  them,  than  to  have  made  my  for- 
tune. As  they  have  never  made  my  fortune, 
I  am  convinced  that  they  are  imposters." 

Whereupon  his  materialism  was  approved, 
and  the  Christian  religion  formally  adopted 
as  the  religion  of  the  country. 

It  is  safe,  therefore,  to  say  that  material- 
ism, the  desire  for  personal  gain,  for  mate- 
rial advancement,  is  part  and  parcel  of  hu- 
man nature.  It  is  the  soil,  the  mature  culti- 
vation of  which  produces  the  means,  while 
history  and  time  produce  the  background 
indispensable  for  the  development  of  art. 

You  cannot  have  the  flower  and  fruit  with- 
out the  seed,  the  soil  and  the  patient  labor : 
time  and  the  means  are  indispensable. 

This  is  happily  illustrated  by  what  we  have 
here  to-day.  Lorado  Taft,  one  of  the  few 
great  sculptors  of  this  age,  has  placed  a 
crown  upon  the  forehead  of  our  Great  Lakes. 


46          Address  —  John  Barton  Payne 

How  has  he  been  enabled  to  do  this  ?  It  could 
not  have  been  done  without  the  union  of 
genius  and  a  lifetime  of  study  and  toil  neces- 
sary to  prepare  for  such  a  work,  and  this 
would  have  been  impossible  without  the  ex- 
penditure of  a  large  sum  of  money,  which 
might  never  have  been  available  but  for  the 
munificent  bequest  of  this  large-minded,  far- 
seeing,  successful  business  man,  typical  of 
Chicago. 

This  was  B.  F.  Ferguson,  a  lumberman. 
Born  in  Columbia,  Pennsylvania,  in  1839,  he 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  for 
a  brief  time  in  a  normal  school ;  began  busi- 
ness when  seventeen  years  of  age ;  was  in  the 
Civil  War ;  in  1865  came  to  Chicago  and  be- 
came an  employee  in  a  lumber  business.  His 
natural  ability  and  enterprise  pushed  him 
forward  to  success.  He  was  associated  in 
his  business  career  with  other  enterprising 
Chicago  business  men,  some  of  whom  are 
now  living.  In  1905,  after  having  spent 
thirty  years  in  the  lumber  business,  he  died. 

By  his  will  he  gave  the  principal  part  of 
his  fortune  (not  a  great  one  as  fortunes  are 
now  measured)  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Art 
Institute,  as  its  President  has  told  you,  to  be 
devoted  to  the  creation  of  monuments  to 


Address  —  John  Barton  Payne         47 

mark  the  lives  of  great  men  and  great  na- 
tional events.  The  result,  therefore,  of  this 
typical  Chicago  business  man's  life,  joined 
with  the  genius  of  a  Chicago  sculptor,  has 
given  us  this  great  monument  to  our  Great 
Lakes. 

Chicago  materialism  has  taken  a  great 
step  in  its  march  toward  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion. 

What  is  thus  true  of  Chicago  was  true  of 
Florence,  and  of  other  cities  now  celebrated 
for  their  art.  Art  followed  material  success. 
This  afforded  means  and  opportunity  for  in- 
tellectual growth,  for  the  development  of 
genius. 

The  history  of  Florence  affords  a  striking 
illustration  and  proof  of  this  fact.  Giov- 
anni de 'Medici  amassed  a  great  fortune,  and 
by  his  adroitness  procured  the  elevation  of 
his  friends  to  the  chief  offices  and  became 
virtually  ruler  of  the  Republic  of  Florence. 
His  son,  Cosimo,  inherited  this  vast  fortune, 
was  not  only  a  great  banker,  but  a  statesman, 
and  patron  of  literature,  and  like  his  father 
practically  ruled  the  Republic.  Florence 
was  passing  through  the  period  of  material- 
ism. Then  came  Lorenzo  de 'Medici,  "The 
Magnificent,"  celebrated  as  a  statesman,  a 


48          Address  —  John  Barton  Payne 

patron  of  art  and  letters,  and  under  his 
leadership  Florence  obtained  the  position 
which  she  has  since  held  in  the  world  of  art. 

Chicago  should  not,  therefore,  decry  mate- 
rialism any  more  than  she  should  decry  her 
commercial  supremacy,  but  should  cultivate 
and  mould  this  materialism  and  use  the  bene- 
fits which  it  brings  until  we  have  the  ripe 
fruit  of  civilization,  love  for  our  fellow  man, 
the  humanities  which  teach  us  all  that  we 
have  lived  to  little  purpose  unless  we  can 
leave  the  world  better  for  our  having  lived 
in  it. 

,There  is  much  to  be  done  in  Chicago  by 
men  of  wealth,  and  the  greatest  incentive  to 
wise  giving.  Persons  of  large  means  cannot 
find  a  better  illustration  than  B.  F.  Fergu- 
son's in  this  behalf.  If  he  had  divided  his 
fortune  into  small  benefactions  this  splen- 
did monument  would  have  been  impossible. 
The  amount  would  not  have  been  sufficient 
to  accomplish  a  great  work.  Men  should  dis- 
pose of  their  fortunes  so  as  to  accomplish 
the  largest  good ;  to  do  some  one  thing  effect- 
ively, to  the  end  that  the  success  which  char- 
acterized their  lives  should  continue  after 
them  in  the  wise  disposition  made  of  their 
accumulated  means. 


Address  —  John  Barton  Payne          49 

I  cannot  let  this  occasion  pass  without  a 
word  of  the  work  of  the  Art  Institute,  its 
officers  and  trustees.  Few  realize  how  large 
a  place  it  occupies  and  is  entitled  to  occupy 
in  the  life  of  this  city,  and  the  splendidly 
effective  work  it  accomplishes  both  as  a 
museum  of  art  and  as  a  teacher  of  art.  The 
influence  of  its  magnificent  collections  and 
the  more  than  three  thousand  students  year 
in  and  year  out,  upon  the  life  of  Chicago, 
and  the  great  Middle  West,  is  beyond  any 
human  calculation,  and  Mr.  Ferguson  was 
exceedingly  wise  in  selecting  the  Trustees  of 
the  Art  Institute  as  the  Trustees  of  his  own 
benefaction. 

I  will  no  longer  detain  you,  but  accept  with 
profound  and  grateful  appreciation,  this 
admirable  work,  for  the  South  Park  Com- 
missioners, and  through  them  for  the  people 
of  Chicago. 


ft.  *.  »0««SilE»  *  tout  CO. ,  CMICASO 


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